Currently, teachers in the New York City Department of Education are qualified to get continuing education credits for the training. The company said that educators in other locations will have to verify with their own schools or state offices to find out whether the professional development qualifies for credits.

On the student side, the curriculum covers four modules:

The use of MakerBot printers and software;

The concepts of design thinking and rapid prototyping;

How to apply design thinking to product design; and

Working with 3D printing.

To receive the certification, users must pass an online exam with or without working through the training exercises. The company said the credentials last for three years. The work requires access to a MakerBot-specific 3D printer.

MakerBot is also making the course materials available for classroom, school and district use. At each level, the program covers certification for a given number of teachers and students. For example, at the classroom level, two teachers and 30 students may become certified. At the district level, the program covers 40 educators and 1,000 students.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal and Campus Technology. She can be reached at dian@dischaffhauser.com or on Twitter @schaffhauser.

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